On
Syria,
Obama Wants to
Strike, Will
Take It to
Congress, UN
Irrelevant?

By
Matthew
Russell Lee

UNITED
NATIONS,
August 31 --
Why did the UN
hold a rare
Saturday press
conference on
August 31? To
try to make
itself
relevant on
Syria. To
summarize a
meeting in an
undisclosed
location
between
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
his High
Representative
on Disarmament
Angela
Kane. To say
it cannot say
when its
report on
chemical
weapons will
be completed.

That
report is not
supposed to,
according to
its mandate,
say WHO used
chemical
weapons. When
Inner City
Press asked
this week,
Ban's
associate
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
said there
would however
be an
"evidence
based
narrative."
When Ban's
lead
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
returned on
August 30,
Inner City
Press asked
him what
the phrase
meant. It will
include
interviews
with witnesses
and
survivors.

On
August 31,
Gulf media
told Nesirky
Ban should
"step up to
the
plate" and say
who used the
weapons.
Nesirky pushed
back; he
also noted
that a US
State
Department
correspondent
who quoted
John
Kerry on
August 30
might again be
watching TV,
to see what
Obama
said.

When
Obama belated
started up, he
said he has
decided to use
force, but to
seek
Congressional
approval. He
said he'll act
without UN
Security
Council
approval. And
what of
Sellstrom's
report? Watch
this site.